mix, mix… stir, stir

First, there is a bit of a back story for this one that is described in my previous post. I made the ricotta cheese for for the very first time for this cake. Now for those who have never made ricotta it may sound impressive, but anyone who has made it knows it is no big deal, and I am thrilled to now count myself as part of the no-big-deal camp and will forever enjoy the pleasure of fresh warm ricotta cheese. If you haven’t tried making it you must.

I actually call these Honey Snack Cakes. The figs and polenta are no doubt significant flavor elements, but this cake is driven by the flavor of the honey. Polenta makes the texture of the cake work; the sturdy crumb and lovely crunch of the larger polenta grains seem necessary to stand up to the ricotta and honey combination which make for a very moist and somewhat sticky finished product.

I love to make bite-sized food for hors d’oeuvre/mingle type parties and thought this recipe would lend itself well to such an application. The tartlets worked beautifully and because the structure of the cake is dense and moist they are easy to pick up and eat by hand. Another plus for these little gems in a party application is they are better the next day, so you can make them a head of time.

In reviewing some of the comments on Tuesdays with Dorie from other bakers who had already made the cake, a number found the cake to be too sweet. Heeding their words, I cut the sugar by half, but still find it a bit sweet. I am incline to also cut back the honey a bit next time. This batter struck me as a perfect canvas for a spice element, considering the figs and honey, I added some ground anise seed and it was a nice match. Because I was making tartlets, I cut the figs in to small pieces rather than just in half and distributed them among the tins. The only other change I made to the recipe was by pure oversight. I neglected to dot the tops with butter before baking and can’t see that any harm came from the deletion.

Feeling like the tartlets were too sweet, and wanting a garnish on them at the same time, I turned to the fresh ricotta cheese I had left. A little scoop on top of each tartlet created the perfect creamy counterbalance to the sweet sticky little cakes. Now I loved them! My venture into to ricotta cheese making really paid off! Please don’t top these lovely little cakes with commercial ricotta, homemade ricotta is that much better. See my previous post and make some fresh ricotta cheese - it’s really worth it!

This selection for this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie baking group was made by Caitlin of Engineer Baker. You can find the recipe in Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.